Women urge others to go public about abortions

ABORTION

Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer

Published 4:10 pm, Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Photo: Sarah Rice, Special To The Chronicle

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Harriett Stinson, 85, hopes that by going public with her story of an illegal abortion in her 20's, she can convince others to do the same and raise awareness about the need to keep abortions legal. Stinson, the founder of Republican Women for Choice and a pioneer in the abortion rights movement, is worried about the Republican push against reproductive rights. She is photographed at her home in San Mateo, Calif., Tuesday, October 11, 2011.
Ran on: 10-13-2011
Longtime women's rights champion Harriet Stinson revealed that she had an illegal abortion in her 20s.
Ran on: 10-13-2011
Longtime women's rights champion Harriet Hills Stinson revealed that she had an illegal abortion in her 20s. less

Harriett Stinson, 85, hopes that by going public with her story of an illegal abortion in her 20's, she can convince others to do the same and raise awareness about the need to keep abortions legal. Stinson, ... more

Photo: Sarah Rice, Special To The Chronicle

Image 2 of 4

Harriett Stinson, 85, hopes that by going public with her story of an illegal abortion in her 20's, she can convince others to do the same and raise awareness about the need to keep abortions legal. Stinson, the founder of Republican Women for Choice and a pioneer in the abortion rights movement, is worried about the Republican push against reproductive rights. She is photographed at her home in San Mateo, Calif., Tuesday, October 11, 2011.
Ran on: 10-13-2011
A GOP push to cut family planning funds prompted Harriet Stinson to tell her story and urge other women to do the same.
Ran on: 10-13-2011
A GOP push to cut family planning funds prompted Harriet Hills Stinson to tell her story and urge other women to do the same. less

Harriett Stinson, 85, hopes that by going public with her story of an illegal abortion in her 20's, she can convince others to do the same and raise awareness about the need to keep abortions legal. Stinson, ... more

Photo: Sarah Rice, Special To The Chronicle

Image 3 of 4

Harriett Stinson, 85, hopes that by going public with her story of an illegal abortion in her 20's, she can convince others to do the same and raise awareness about the need to keep abortions legal. Stinson, the founder of Republican Women for Choice and a pioneer in the abortion rights movement, is worried about the Republican push against reproductive rights. She is photographed at her home in San Mateo, Calif., Tuesday, October 11, 2011. less

Harriett Stinson, 85, hopes that by going public with her story of an illegal abortion in her 20's, she can convince others to do the same and raise awareness about the need to keep abortions legal. Stinson, ... more

Photo: Sarah Rice, Special To The Chronicle

Image 4 of 4

Harriett Stinson, 85, hopes that by going public with her story of an illegal abortion in her 20's, she can convince others to do the same and raise awareness about the need to keep abortions legal. Stinson, the founder of Republican Women for Choice and a pioneer in the abortion rights movement, is worried about the Republican push against reproductive rights. She is photographed at her home in San Mateo, Calif., Tuesday, October 11, 2011. less

Harriett Stinson, 85, hopes that by going public with her story of an illegal abortion in her 20's, she can convince others to do the same and raise awareness about the need to keep abortions legal. Stinson, ... more

Photo: Sarah Rice, Special To The Chronicle

Women urge others to go public about abortions

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PALO ALTO -- Harriett Hills Stinson, 85, a prominent member of the wealthy San Francisco family that founded Hills Bros. Coffee, says it took a push by GOP conservatives to cut funding for family planning and abortion services to move her to reveal a long-held personal secret: She once had an illegal abortion.

"I've never regretted it," Stinson told The Chronicle this week. As a mother in her 20s with three young children, Stinson said, she came to the decision that "for the sake of my family, it was not right for me to have a fourth child." Now, she said, "I'm hoping women who have had abortions will come forward."

On Wednesday, Stinson was honored as national, state and Bay Area supporters of abortion and reproductive rights gathered on the Peninsula for their annual Power of Choice lunch sponsored by NARAL Pro-Choice America, the nation's largest abortion and reproductive rights advocacy group.

The gathering in Palo Alto of 600 supporters was held to assess the political landscape on a key social issue and discuss the impact of what women's leaders are increasingly defining as a conservatives' "war on women" as the 2012 presidential race heats up.

A matter of timing

Stinson's decision to tell the story of her abortion at Wednesday's event comes as pro-choice supporters warn of an increasingly militant conservative lobby that they say hopes for sharp restrictions on family planning funding and legal abortions - an issue they predict could influence the women's vote in next year's election.

A key House vote is scheduled today on HR358, a bill by Rep. Joseph Pitts, R-Pa., that would restrict abortion funding and availability.

Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said the bill, which she called "extremist," would allow a hospital to refuse a woman life-saving abortion care "even if she were to die without it."

While antiabortion groups, such as Americans United for Life, dispute those claims, the Protect Life Act would prohibit federal funds from being spent to cover any part of the cost of a health plan that provides elective abortions.

"This is the seventh vote on the issue of abortion," Keenan said in an interview. Repeated attempts by conservative lawmakers to restrict funding for Planned Parenthood, which provides services to millions of women, makes it clear that proponents of the measure "want to outlaw birth control and abortion in this country," she added.

Herrick said the GOP presidential field, in which all candidates have declared themselves to be strongly antiabortion, didn't provide any comfort to pro-choice Republicans. He said the party, especially in California, has continued a rightward march on social issues, "which is one of the reasons why we're in such a minority" and in danger of alienating female voters in 2012.

Changing landscape

But he said two developments in California - legislative redistricting and the new primary system in which the top two candidates move on to the general election regardless of political party - may change the landscape by opening the door to more moderate candidates.

While some political observers have suggested that abortion and reproductive rights will not be a key issue in the nation's current economic climate, Keenan said access to birth control, family planning and cancer screenings are viewed by many women voters as values that relate directly to the issue of personal freedom.

Stinson urged the estimated 1 in 4 American women who have had abortions to "be bold and brave and do something drastic," to tell their stories to their friends, family and legislators, an effort she said will bring the matter out of the shadows and dramatize the need for safe, legal services.

"Our opposition believes they can control us by shame," said Stinson, who founded Planned Parenthood in San Mateo. Social conservatives' opposition to birth control and other prevention measures, she added, "is really what has funneled millions of women into abortions. We've got to end our silence."

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